When's the earliest the accordion can be invented? Wikipedia says it was invented in 1822, also stating it may have been invented earlier. So how early could it have happened? 1700's? 1600's? Medieval?
Invention of the accordion
- Thread starter Styrofoam Boots
- Start date
Bump? I know this has nothing to do with war and politics, but it can still be interesting, right?
Also, I'm doing a worldbuilding thing and I want to know how early I can believably introduce it.
Also, I'm doing a worldbuilding thing and I want to know how early I can believably introduce it.
Given that the accordion unfortunately displaced and replaced the bagpipe 
(French 'musette' : popular dancings are still called 'bal musette' though the major instrument is an accordion for more than a century now) and the hurdy-gurdy , I'd personally ask: how the invention of the accordion could be prevented?
(French 'musette' : popular dancings are still called 'bal musette' though the major instrument is an accordion for more than a century now) and the hurdy-gurdy , I'd personally ask: how the invention of the accordion could be prevented?
i think minor PODs like this are great, if for nothing else than to make a TL seem more real, such as examining what popular culture would be like given the other changes in the TL (for example, the effects that "WI:No Soviet Union" would have on the likes of Animal Farm). one that i'm exploring ultimately results in 11th century pocket watches
as for the accordion, while i don't know when it might be invented in a given TL, i could see it having an effect on classical music. imagine an ATL version of Mozart writing a mournful symphony with soft accordions in the background, for instance, or a jauntier one with cheerful accordions taking center-stage. or something along these lines being very commonplace.
EDIT: i decided to look into it a bit, and apparently a Chinese instrument called the sheng is considered the ancestor of reed organ instruments, including the accordion, and (if you want to just use European history for this) a free reed organ was built in Nuremberg in the mid-15th century. potentially, you could extrapolate that as around the earliest possible time for closer ancestors of the accordion to be invented, or possibly average out the date for accordions themselves so that it's somewhere in the middle, older than they're known to be IOTL but still relatively close to their earliest definitive year. for the record, reed organs were used in the Middle East earlier than the were in Europe, so the accordion could very well play into that region's music more prominently than in Europe.
Last edited:
So if the sheng can be introduced to Europe and the middle east earlier, say by the Mongols, then maybe various cultures could adopt it and eventually different kinds of squeezeboxes can be invented. My mostly-uneducated guess would give the accordion an Italian renaissance debut, which is perfect because that's when I assumed it was invented before I actually looked it up.
Thanks for the response!
Thanks for the response!
After looking it up, I don't really think there's an early limit on when the accordion can be invented. It's a bellows-driven reed instrument so anytime after the invention of the bellows.
Please consider that accordion reeds are made of metal, so if that factor is important--although the basic mechanism and bellows could be developed sooner--you would have to wait until these somewhat more complex components could be fabricated.
PS New member: 1st Post
That is something I was afraid of. I didn't know if any of the parts would have to wait until the Industrial Revolution before it becomes popular. Although, I can't think of anything that can't be made of iron or even wood (most of my accordion is wood, although I haven't looked inside of it).
Also, welcome to the community!
I don't think the issue would be that accordions couldn't be fabricated before the industrial revolution, but that they would be expensive to make before then. The labour cost of carving all those reeds and buttons by hand would be prohibitive for the use of the accordion as a folk instrument. We're not talking about it being as expensive as an organ, or even as expensive as a harpsichord or piano, but definitely more expensive than a fiddle. I could see it becoming sort of a portable replacement for the piano amongst the upper middle classes.
Although, I'm also realizing that there are different types of accordions. I'm thinking of a piano accordion, which is the most intricate type of accordion, mechanically speaking. If you're talking about something with only 5-10 buttons (and therefore only 5-10 reeds), it would be much more economical.
Although, I'm also realizing that there are different types of accordions. I'm thinking of a piano accordion, which is the most intricate type of accordion, mechanically speaking. If you're talking about something with only 5-10 buttons (and therefore only 5-10 reeds), it would be much more economical.
i think small accordions like that would be the best ones to use in this hypothetical, with the more intricate accordions being few and far between but the people playing them being famous because of them, both for the more complex music that they make and just being a status symbol ("Look at all the keys on his accordion! That guy must be loaded!")
5-10 keys would activate 10-20 reeds (2 for each key or button, 1 sounding on the "in", 1 on the "out"). With piano-accordions, the in and out sound the same pitch; diatonics, concertinas and such usually sound a different pitch for each key.
Early versions, imho, would be expected to have a range of at least 2 octaves (give or take), for most "Western" music, so around 15 keys or buttons, minimum, for the capacity of rendering more than only very simple tunes.
A gunsmith or watchmaker could probably fashion reeds for a working example, with guidance from an instrument maker. John Harrison (marine chronometer) had an interest in music, and wrote about tuning in his later years (1770's).
If you haven't already, search "flutina".
Early versions, imho, would be expected to have a range of at least 2 octaves (give or take), for most "Western" music, so around 15 keys or buttons, minimum, for the capacity of rendering more than only very simple tunes.
A gunsmith or watchmaker could probably fashion reeds for a working example, with guidance from an instrument maker. John Harrison (marine chronometer) had an interest in music, and wrote about tuning in his later years (1770's).
If you haven't already, search "flutina".
Given that the accordion unfortunately displaced and replaced the bagpipe
This. The marginalization of the hurdy-gurdy is one of the great tragedies of musical history (despite the instrument's ridiculous name
). Seriously, that shit's sublime...You can have an accordion like instrument in the 16th century, it may not have reeds, and more like a hand help pump organ. The real trouble will not be in construction but with pitch. There will have to be a method of being able to be in tune with each other and other players. Getting A440 Mz will be a bugger. Not on of the 7 Bach organ, remaining to day, are in A440, and not one is in tune with another.
The name was allegedly Parisian slang for a streetwalker, becoming applied to the musical instrument too because many of those women took to playing one as a way of advertising their presence...This. The marginalization of the hurdy-gurdy is one of the great tragedies of musical history (despite the instrument's ridiculous name
This. The marginalization of the hurdy-gurdy is one of the great tragedies of musical history (despite the instrument's ridiculous name
Well, that was rad as hell! Those are definitely playing a part in my worldbuilding thing. I don't see why those and accordions cant co-exist.
They had that: "portative organ". Accordions et. al. would be much more compact, which is the objective, I would say.
I suggest a town's/church's organ would be considered the pitch "standard" for a particular locale (not unlike an orchestra tuning to the piano when presenting a concerto for that instrument). Existing examples were tuned to from around A=400 to 450 Hz. It was built to be in tune with itself; other instrumentalists--strings, winds and timpani--would be expected to tune to it.
When organs were re-tuned, the pipes (literally) took a beating. After several re-tunings, the damaged parts would have to be cut away, gradually raising the pitch of the entire apparatus. Probably the most involved keyboard instrument to tune, excepting perhaps the carillon.